Zero Online

Zero Online Overview

If you’ve ever played any of TQ Digital’s other games, Zero Online shouldn’t feel all that different. The game’s most notable features are the incredibly fast experience gain and high level cap. Another interesting aspect of the game is that it is a sci-fi game, which in and of itself makes Zero Online fairly unique, considering there are only a handful of sci-fi games out there. If you’ve played a lot of the more popular MMORPGs and are looking for a fun distraction, Zero Online is worth the download. The game’s two playable classes are:

Infantry – The Infantry class in Zero Online is capable of dealing large amounts of damage to a single target. They are severely underpowered at the start of the game and only become playable late game.

Artillery - The Artillery class in Zero Online is capable of dealing massive amounts of damage to a large amount of enemies at once. They are much more powerful than the Infantry class, especially during the first 40 levels or so.

Zero Online Screenshots

Zero Online Featured Video

Full Review

Zero Online Review

By, Omer Altay

I have to be honest. Before I started playing Zero Online my expectations for the game were already really low, since I personally was not a fan of TQ Digital’s (the publisher) other games. My biggest complaint against the company is that all of their games are too similar; Eudemons Online is almost the same exact game as Crazy Tao and Conquer Online but with slightly different graphics. When I first started playing Zero Online though, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was genuinely different than the publishers other games and actually quite fun.

Starting Out
Before I even entered the game I was already frustrated with Zero Online’s limited character customization and class selection. The game has two playable classes, the melee oriented ‘infantry’ and the powerful gun wielding ‘artillery’. The game’s character customization is limited to selecting one avatar out of a possible eight which has no bearing on the game. The fact that the game only has two playable classes is certainly a shame because with so many other MMORPGs offering variety to players it’s hard for an MMORPG with such little variety to compete. The good thing about Zero Online, however, is that even though there are only two classes, each class has four ‘evolutions’ which are basically mini job advancements. They give your character a new look and add to your characters that’s. The first evolution is at level 20, the second at 60, the third at 100, and the last at 130. The job evolutions are a great way to keep players hooked and continually coming back as even though the each evolution is forty or so levels apart the experience rate is fast enough to make them feel within reach.

Unique game mechanics!
One aspect of Zero Online that I really liked was the fact that the game’s weapon system. Each of the game’s two playable classes are capable of using a fair variety of weapons, but the longer a player uses a single type of weapon the more proficient they become with it. Each weapon type has its own strengths and weaknesses so it makes sense to master more than a single weapon type. A players proficiency with a weapon type levels separately from their regular experience so the game adds a lot of playability by having a handful of weapon types. Both combat and movement in Zero Online feels incredibly fluid and the game has both a high resolution and normal mode. The game certainly isn’t too demanding on the PC, so I recommend players to launch the game on the high resolution mode. My favorite aspect of Zero Online is the game’s ‘auto-pilot’ feature which is found in the publisher’s other games as well.

Auto-pilot? What’s that?
Auto-pilot in Zero Online is a feature built into the game that automatically moves players to their desired destination by simply selecting it from a list. The auto-pilot feature isn’t limited to helping players find their way around town as it also helps navigate the entire game world as players can select grinding locations from the auto pilot menu as well. The auto-pilot feature makes questing incredibly easy and convenient, as it makes it easier for players to find quest NPCs. I’m surprised other games haven’t implemented similar systems as Zero Online really nailed the auto-pilot system as its one of the most convenient features I’ve ever stumbled upon in an MMORPG.

This isn’t fair!
You’d imagine if a game had only two classes those two classes would be incredibly balanced, but that isn’t the case with Zero Online. The game’s ‘artillery’ class is significantly stronger than the ‘infantry’ class during the early parts of the game because the ranged artillery class is capable of doing massive area of effect damage at a very fast rate. The level of imbalance is ridiculous as the artillery classes’ over powered area of effect attacks lead to a much faster rate of experience gain than the melee infantry’s attacks. The two classes become more balanced towards the end of the game, but that may be too far down the line for some people, so I recommend playing the ‘artillery’ class for beginners to Zero Online.

Complaints…
One of my biggest complaints with Zero Online is that the game is too easy. Monsters are slow, weak and dumb so they pose absolutely no challenge. Low level artillery players can easily kill even high level monsters without ever getting hit because enemies are simply too slow. It’s as if they’re casually walking towards you while you’re blasting away at them. Questing also requires little input from the user because the game’s auto-pilot feature makes everything a bit too easy. The only real challenge available in the game is PvP, which an entirely different story as it’s not worth participating early game. Another complaint with the game is that the skill system is a bit awkward. Players can only activate their skills every five to ten minutes or so when the game prompts them to do so. When a skill is activated, players are capable of dealing massive, and I do mean massive, amounts of damage for the duration of the skill. The inability to manually activate skills is a bit frustrating because at times the game will prompt the use of skills while in town or away from the battlefield.

Maybe I’m just a sucker for Sci-fi.
Perhaps I’m just a sucker for sci-fi MMORPGs, but I genuinely enjoyed playing Zero Online and I’ll certainly come back for more. The game has an incredible amount of balance issues and overall gameplay inconsistencies, but the game’s fast paced experience and large level cap kept me hooked. The game also has a fairly large player base and all of them wouldn’t be sticking around if the game sucked. The game also has a ton of little features which adds to its overall enjoyment. Players can form guilds called Fleets, there’s an item upgrading system, skill fusing system, and many more interesting features. One really neat little feature which comes into play late game is Zero Online’s A.R.M system (Automated Reserch Mech), which allows players to control up to 3 units at the same time – much like controlling multiple characters in Sword 2. Players can control 2 “mechs” at once upon reaching level 100 and three at level 145.

Final Verdict: Good
If you can look past Zero Online’s graphics and class imbalances, the game offers a lot of content and playability. If you’re a fan of the sci-fi genre, there is no reason not to give the game a try.